Arthur Ashe: Tennis and Justice in the Civil Rights Era

Acknowledgments

As a child growing up in suburban Chicago in the days before the Internet, I wouldentertainmyselfforhoursbybouncingarubberballagainstthewallofmy family’sbrickhouse.IimaginedmyselfasCubssecondbasemanRyneSandberg hitting a home run or pitcher Greg Maddux hurling a complete game. In the eveningsIwouldpeckawayonatypewriter ,compilinganimaginaryboxscorefrom the day’s imaginary game. I was completely in love with sports, and I even dreamed of a career in sports broadcasting, hoping to join the ranks of Harry CarayandErnieHarwell.Thatideadidn’tquiteworkout,butI’mstillabletooffer commentary on popular culture as a historian of African American history. Bill “Doc” White first encouraged me to pursue a PhD in history when I was only a freshman at Saint Joseph’s College. His unwavering belief in me mattered more thanhe’ll ever know. Billis a great professor and aneven better human being. AtPurdueUniversityIwasfortunatetoworkwithandlearnfromanumberof talented scholars. My major professor, Randy Roberts, encouraged this project fromthebeginningandtreatedmemorelikeacolleaguethanhisstudent.Hewas always available to talk about my work, yet he gave me the space that I needed to maketheprojectmyown.NancyGabin,despiteadvisingmanygraduatestudents in the department, read my entire manuscript and offered support and guidance throughout my graduate career. Neil Bynum, Darren Dochuk, Jen Foray, and Mike Morrison took time away from their busy schedules to read my work and listentomyideas.DougHurtprovidedgenerousfundingforconferencetravel. I am eternally grateful to my fellow graduate students, especially Johnny Smith. Johnny has read and offered incisive feedback on nearly every grant proposal , article, and chapter that I have ever written. My deep conversations with Johnny have sharpened my understanding of the relationship between popular culture and the black freedom movement. I am a better scholar for having met him. Jamal Ratchford, Andrew Smith, and Nate Corzine, also members of the Roberts cohort, helped me position my work within the fields of African Acknowledgments x acknowledgments American and sports history. Others who contributed to this book in one way or another include Alex Olson, Sara Morris, Erin Kempker, Megan Birk, Katie Higgins,BrettScipioni,andmyadoptedaunt,GildaAbreu,whohoused,fed,and entertained me during my long research trip to New York. My wonderful new colleagues at Georgia Southern University, Lisa Costello, Abby Brooks, Eric Silva, Larry Griffin, Michelle Haberland, Jon Bryant, Jeff Burson, Kathleen Comerford, and Cathy Skidmore-Hess, read portions of my manuscript and talked at length with me about my research. The Feltmans—Brian, Carrie, Naomi, and Max—have been the best friends a person could ever ask for. This book would not have been possible without funding from the Purdue Research Foundation, the Harold Woodman Graduate Research Fund, and the Purdue Graduate Student Government. Johnathan O’Neill, chair of the Department of History at Georgia Southern, graciously provided funding for images. I am forever indebted to the archivists at the Schomburg Center for Research in BlackCulture,aswellasthestaffsattheLibraryofCongressandtheInterlibrary Loan offices at Purdue and Georgia Southern. Special thanks to V. P. Franklin and Dexter Blackman, who published an earlier version of chapters 1-3 in the Journal of African American History 96, no. 4 (Fall 2011): 474–502. My editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, Bob Brugger, recognized this book’s potential long before I did. His steady advice throughout the publishing processandhiseyeforthebiggerpicturehavegreatlyimprovedthemanuscript. Melissa Solarz answered many annoying e-mails and kept my stress level to a minimum. Joanne Allen saved me from many grammatical errors and is a first-rate copyeditor. A few others deserve special recognition. Rosendo and Teresa Abreu, my wonderful in-laws, watched the dog so I could do research, attended one of my conferences,andsupportedmeinmorewaysthanIcandetailhere.Mybrother, Adam, has encouraged me from the time he could speak, no matter how crazy my dreams. My loving parents, Don and Cathy, always told me to follow my heart. If I lived by that rule, they said, everything else would fall into place. They were right. From the old Mazda that my father drove to work to the many luxuries my mother lived without, my parents always put their children first. And I would not be where I am today without Stuart, Sally, and the love of my life, Christina Abreu. Through good times and bad, winters in Ann Arbor and summers in Orlando, days in the archives and evenings on the couch, Christina has been right beside me. She is everything to me—my adviser, my editor, my comic relief, my workout partner, my reality check, and most importantly my best friend. She has made me who I am. Te amo mi amor. Arthur Ashe This page intentionally left blank ...